Talk:Erich Fromm (1900-1980)
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Questions for In-Class Discussion
- Can we agree with Fromm's depictions of rational authority vs. inhibiting authority (p.163), in light of situations such as the military where are clear distinctions between officer and enlisted persons, which serve a clear functional purpose? Alternatively, what can we say about circumstances where it is clear that there is no potential for future equality between the superior and the inferior? In this case, how do prevent ourselves from slipping into mere value or class judgments?
- Does Fromm reveal his own prejudices regarding the value of certain types of labor in his depiction and comparison of the grocery store owner versus the gas station owner (p. 124)? What if we were to take his illustration a step further and depict the grocery store owner in the same manner but add that to the description that the gas station owner, in addition to selling gas and oil, services and repairs automobiles? Would this alter the nature of Fromm's illustration and argument?
Escape From Freedom
Central Theme
In the pursuit of freedom and in the act of "becoming", an individual is faced with a dilemma wherein, in order to attain security, he/ she must choose between uniting with the world in either openness or in ways, such as conformity, that ultimately degrade his/her freedom and integrity as an individual. The alternative path of openness is the more difficult path as seeking to engage with the world in "the spontaneity of love and productive work" (p. 21) holds the risk of failure.
Key Concepts
Authority (p. 163): An interpersonal relationship in which one person sees another as superior to themselves.
- Rational authority: a superiority-inferiority relationship wherein the shared interests lie in goals of the enterprise. The relationship is based upon helping the inferior person, if the inferior fials then superior shares the blame. In Fromm's example, the authority of the student (pupil) grows and he/she can eventually can become equal in authority with the teacher.
- Inhibiting authority: a superiority-inferiority relationship wherein exploitation is the basis. The superior (master) seeks to obtain as much from the inferior (slave) as possible. The distance between the two tends to be intensified over time, as the more the Master obtains the more he/she is satisfied. At the same time, the slave seeks his/her own happiness in the process and this creates an ongoing antagonism.
- Anonymous authority: a form of authority which is often disguised as overt authority but it lacks a visible origin. Fromm explains it as if we are "being fired upon by an invisible enemy. There is nobody and nothing to fight back against" (p. 166).
Authoritarianism: Fromm characterizes the authoritarian as one who possesses a sadist element and a masochist element in so far as their relationship to the world is similar to these elements. The authoritarian admires and submits to authority but at the same time he/she desires to gain control over other people in a bid to impose some kind of order on the world. Accordingly, the authoritarian experiences either domination or submission (but never solidarity) and he/she believes that the world is composed of superior people with power and inferior people who are without power and the authoritarian perception of equality lies within this notion (p. 171).
Automaton Conformity (p. 183): A mechanism of escape from freedom, wherein, a person gives up themselves and their individual self to conform to the expectations of mass-society in the effort to overcome the loneliness imposed by it. Fromm calls this a contradiction, as according to our own principles of freedom, we are supposed to be individuals who are free to "think, feel, act" as we please, thus, the act of conforming is escaping our own freedom.
Character (p. 161): Dominant drives that motivate a person's behavior (as derived from Freud).
Conformity: Process by which people unconsciously incorporate the normative beliefs and thought processes of their society and experience them as their own. This allows them to avoid genuine free thinking, which is likely to be anxiety provoking.
Destructiveness (p. 177): Although this bears a similarity to sadism, Fromm argues that the sadist wishes to gain control over something. A destructive personality wishes to destroy something it cannot bring under his/her control, yet he/she is acting from a similar position of powerlessness and isolation. Whereas, sadism incorporates, destructiveness removes.
Power (p.160): Fromm describes power as having two meanings, one of dominance and the other of potency. The first definition refers to the ability of a person to dominate another or have power over them, the second definition of the term has to do with personal mastery in terms of ability. Thus, when Fromm refers to powerlessness, he is referring to a person who is unable to do what he or she wants, as opposed to an individual who lacks a position from which to have power over others.
Chapter 1
Freedom- A Psychological Problem?
This chapter examines the nature of freedom as a psychological problem which arises in the struggle of people against the political, economic and spiritual forces which restrain them. For Fromm, there is a dichotomy between the lust for power and the willing submission to authority that leads him to attempt to define the aspects of freedom relative to the social process within which numerous psychological factors, as well as economic and ideological factors, operate.
Chapter 2
The Emergence of the Individual and the Ambiguity of Freedom
This chapter addresses how a person comes to conceive of himself/herself as an independent, separate entity within contemporary society. Also, in this chapter, Fromm sets forth the problematic of how economic, social and political conditions impinge upon the process of individuation. This sets up a contrast between the a person's independence, his/her quest for freedom and ultimately, his/her own isolation, which results in feelings of powerlessness and insignificance.
Chapter 4
The Two Aspects of Freedom for Modern Man
This chapter articulates how, in Fromm's view, capitalistic society affects the personality of the individual in two ways at once. Firstly, he/she gains independence, self-reliance and critical distance from society, while secondly, the individual is simultaneously more afraid, isolated and alone; this is the problematic presented by freedom. Fromm argues that the challenge lies in trying to see both sides dialectically as we are prone to conventionally think in black and white terms. He suggests, unlike the past, that the new enemy of freedom can be found within our own internal restraints.
Chapter 5
Mechanisms of Escape
In this chapter, Fromm describes the psychological mechanisms as they are related to his larger argument regarding the nature of the society which drives individuals, in their isolation, towards the need to escape their own freedom. Here, he also works to detail the psychological basis of his argument, relevant to the distinction between the society and the individual and then, he sets forth a detailed description of the function of three mechanisms of escape, authoritarianism, destructiveness and automaton conformity.
Related Work from Other Authors
Dewey (1934) describes thought as being driven by external needs as opposed to being driven by inner impulses. For Dewey, there are times when action and observation follow the path of least resistance. As such, individuals may become accustomed to specific ways of seeing and thinking and they often like to be reminded of what is familiar and in doing so, they defer their own responsibility for the construction of their reality to the experts and accept a given situation or claim as truth. The use of language is especially subject to this tendency towards automatism. In this frame of mind, individuals readily accept a reality which is not their own, thus leaving them susceptible to external manipulation and control from external forces.
Fromm (1941, p. 183) uses a similar framework within his concept of automaton conformity to make the claim that individuals in this situation are ultimately relinquishing their freedom and merely becoming what others expect him/her to be; to Sartre (1943), this is an act of “bad faith”.
Berger (1963, p 145) characterizes bad faith with respect to freedom in the following manner, " Society provides for the individual a gigantic mechanism by which he can hide from himself his own freedom. Yet this character of society as an immense conspiracy in “bad faith” is, just as in the case of the individual, but an expression of the possibility of freedom that exists by virtue of society. We are social beings and our existence is bound to specific social locations. The same social situations that can become traps of “bad faith” can also be occasions for freedom."
Erich Fromm's Life
Biographical Chronology
1900, March 23rd- Born in Frankfurt, Germany and was the only child of Orthodox Jewish parents.
1922 Completes PhD in Sociology at University of Heidelberg
1924 Begins studies in psychoanalysis. First in Frankfurt, then at the Berlin Institute of Psychoanalysis. Begins to turn away from religious observance.
1926 Marries Frieda Reichman, a woman ten years his senior but also a psychoanalyst
1930 Divorces Frieda Fromm Reichman but remains friends and continues to collaborate with her professionally
1934 In Switzerland in summer and fall and ssociated with the International Institute for Social Research, Geneva; eventually moves to US from Germany, settles in New York
1941 Publishes Escape from Freedom in the US and (1942)Fear of Freedom in the UK
1944 Marries Henny Gurland and becomes an American citizen
1947 Publishes Man For Himself
1950 Relocates to Mexico City for a teaching position at the National Autonomous University
1952 Henny Gurland dies
1953 Marries Annis Freeman
1956 Publishes The Sane Society
1964 Publishes The Heart of Man
1973 Publishes The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
1976 Publishes last major work, To Have or To Be; Retires to Locarno, Switzerland,
March 18, 1980- died of a heart attack in Muralto, Switzerland.
Teaching and Administration
1934–39 New School of Social Research
1940-41 Columbia University
1949-1950 Yale University
1941-1950 Bennington College
1946-1950 Clinical Director, William Alanson White Institute
1950-1965 National Autonomous University, Mexico City
1953-1976 Founder/ Director of the Mexican Institute of Psychoanalysis, Mexico City
Significant interactions
Struggles and accomplishments
Herbert Marcuse's A Critique of Neo-Freudian Revisionism is an essay which appear as the epilogue in Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry Into Freud. Marcuse suggests that while Fromm's early work was radical he argues that his later work with respect to Freud was essentially conformist. Since this essay represented the left's point of view of Fromm, at least from the perspective of the Frankfurt School, some have argued that Fromm's work has largely been ignored.
Also, Bronner (1994) has suggested that Fromm's defense of traditional Marxist-influenced humanism ran against the grain of the antihumanist postmodernisism within American culture, thus his work fell out of favor.
Erich Fromm's Works
Critical literature on Fromm
McLaughlin, N. (1998, Mar.). How to Become a Forgotten Intellectual: Intellectual Movements and the Rise and Fall of Erich Fromm. Sociological Forum. Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 215-246.
References
- Bronner, S.E. (1994) Of Critical Theory and its Theorists. London: Blackwell.
- Berger, P. (1963). An invitation to sociology: a humanistic perspective. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
- Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group.
- Fromm, E. (1941). The Escape from Freedom, Henry Holt: New York.
- Marcus, H. (1955). Eros and Civilization : A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud. New York: Vintage.
- Sartre, J.P. (1943). Being and nothingness. Trans. Barnes, H.E. New York: Philosophical Library.
Further Information
The Erich Fromm papers are on microfiche in the collection of The New York Public Library.
Information on the collection can be found online at: http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/Fromm/index.html
Except where